Youngblood Chronicles

Young Volcanoes

Patrick bolted up the stairs, seeing Declan in the hallway, his muscles spazzing and his eyes rolled into his head. He heard sirens outside and the door open. Elisa appeared upstairs with someone in a uniform.

He picked up Declan, who gasped as they did and stopped twitching. He looked almost dead, until he opened his eyes slowly and weakly. Patrick followed after the man holding his child, seeing Declan smile.

"Daddy.... You back," Declan said, barely more than a whisper. His eyes closed and he started spazzing again, Patrick's heart breaking and his head spinning as he and Elisa stood there, watching them load Declan into the ambulance.

"You two coming with?" One of the men asked. Patrick rushed into the back of the car no hesitation, Elisa following.

They sped down the road, sirens blaring and two men working to find out what was wrong with Declan.

Patrick watched as they injected needles and IV's into his son, letting himself cry for the first time in a while. Elisa looked over at him as he sniffled, hugging him and letting him get it out of his system.

"It's okay, Patrick. They're gonna take good care of him, he'll be okay, baby...." Elisa soothed. Patrick just held her tight and cried harder. The 10 minute ride seemed increasingly long to Patrick as he sat there watching his worst fears come true.

When they reached the hospital, Patrick and Elisa were told to wait outside in the office while they took care of Declan. Elisa sat down and was perfectly calm, Patrick the exact opposite.

The tears were still flowing, and he was now struggling to breathe as he paced around frantically.

'I shouldn't have left them alone, I'm a horrible father!' Patrick told himself. 'What if he doesn't make it? No, no, it didn't seem fatal. But how do we know that!?' His mind raced with extremes and actual possibilities.

"Mr. Stump?" Patrick whipped around to see a doctor standing in front of him. He looked up at the clock. He'd been pacing around like this for 20 minutes. Jesus.

Patrick stared at the doctor and nodded, chest heaving and face red.

"Your son will be fine," Patrick almost fell to the floor. He was so tense, the relaxation his muscles gave him was almost too much. He became lightheaded and sat down next to Elisa as the doctor explained.

"Declan will be fine. But, we think he may have epilepsy. I will keep you two updated and he will most likely be able to go back home in a few days once we've been able to do more tests." Patrick froze. Epilepsy.

"So, he just had a seizure?" Patrick asked shakily. The doctor nodded. "It'll happen on occasion now, won't it?" The doctor shook his head.

"It won't be scheduled. It can't be cured, but treatment does help. He shouldn't have them very often. Most patients only experience it once or twice in the span of two years."

Patrick sighed in relief, putting his head in his hands. "Are we able to see him?" He asked nervously.

"Not right now. We had to get him to sleep so he would get off his seizure. He needs it." The doctor explained. Patrick nodded and took a deep breath, picking up his glasses and wiping the tears off his cheeks.

"I need to breathe, babe. I'll be outside." Patrick said before walking outside and sitting on the stairs. He looked up to the sky, a stream of rainclouds covering the sun and sky. He felt more tears fall down his cheeks and closed his eyes softly, letting them go.

"Please watch over him," He whispered, "make sure he's alright." He took off his glasses and set them next to him. He twiddled his thumbs in his lap, watching them spin around.

He pulled out his phone, scrolling through his contacts and calling Joe and Andy. He explained everything that was going on and they both said the same thing: "I'm so sorry," and "I'll be there as soon as I can,".

And they meant it. Andy showed up first, rushing up and hugging Patrick tight. He sat down next to Patrick and waited for Joe to arrive, Patrick not saying a word. It was only about 3 minutes before Joe got there, and they all headed inside.

"Where's Pete? Didn't you tell him?" Andy asked. Patrick shook his head.

"Saint is dead," Was all he said before sitting down next to Elisa again. Joe and Andy fell silent. They both glanced at each other before sitting parallel to Patrick and Elisa.

After a moment Patrick heard Joe whisper something to Andy.

"What the fuck, dude?" Was Andy's response. Joe just shrugged. Andy looked pissed.

"How could you say that?" Andy asked. Patrick looked up at Elisa, exchanging a confused glance with her.

"You okay, Andy?" Patrick asked softly. Andy shook his head in disbelief.

"No, what the hell, Joe!" Andy said, standing up. Joe just shrugged again.

"What happened....?" Elisa asked cautiously.

"Joe just said he's glad Saint is dead and that your son is messed up, because apparently you're not cut out to be dads," Andy said furiously.

Patrick didn't get mad. He didn't flip out. He didn't wanna kill Joe. He glanced and Joe who just shrugged at him. That meant he really did say that. Patrick didn't feel mad still. He didn't walk away. He didn't hit or scream or punch.

He just cried.

It was true, Patrick felt like he wasn't cut out to be a father at all right now. Elisa cuddled him close.

"And who gave you the right to say something like that? Like you have any children to judge?" Elisa snapped. Joe shrugged again and put his hands up defensively.

"I just don't think they're cut out to be parents," He said casually as if Patrick wasn't sitting right there and already crying.

"You know what? Fuck you, Joseph Trohman!" Andy said, storming out. Joe followed him slowly, no intentions of apologizing. Patrick just let them go, his glasses falling off into Elisa's lap.

"Ssh, it's okay, Patrick. You make an amazing father, no matter what he says." Elisa said sweetly. Patrick nodded, although he didn't agree. That's two fucked up days in a row. This was gonna be a rough week.